Kale Chips!

Every week I am getting another beautiful fresh full bag of kale. Kale is considered a Superfood and websites boast seemingly endless lists of it's benefits. It's touted as a detoxifier, cancer defender, antioxidant and an anti-inflammatory. It's also high in beta carotene, vitamin K and vitamin C (just to name a few). I have to admit though before I started receiving it by the bag full thanks to my CSA box I had only sampled it a handful of times. Most recently, a close friend and long-time vegetarian raved to me about kale chips. By no means do I consider myself a vegetarian but I am attempting to make a conscious effort to eat less meat and more of the fresh veggies that are piling up in my fridge every week.

The next time I went to my Harris Teeter (cue the cheesy commerical song) I picked up a bunch of what they advertised as fresh kale. I came home, followed her instructions and when the kale chips were ready to come out of the oven Andrew was there waiting to sample a few as well. We tasted them. I'm not a picky eater by any means but it was...bitter. Yuck. Andrew quickly scoffed at them and went back to watching SportsCenter. That was the end of kale chips.

Or so I thought. I was a one-trick pony when it came to kale and when I got a huge bag of it from J&S I did what I knew. I made another batch of kale chips. I didn't tell Andrew. He heard me in the kitchen and popped his head in. "Ugh you're not making kale chips again are you?!" Yes, I was. I had a heaping full bag sitting there and I didn't know what else to do! Surprisingly enough when the oven timer went off guess who was in the kitchen to sample another batch? The old man himself. This batch though was different. I made this batch the exact same way as I had with the first. The only difference was the product. I credit the local fresh kale with making this batch (and all of the consecutive batches) delicious. They are crispy, crunchy and a damn good alternative to potato chips when you crave that salty crunch in your mouth. Andrew even asked for a second batch. Success!

Here's my kale chip recipe:

1. Preheat oven to 350 degrees and line a baking sheet with aluminum foil.





2. Take your clean kale and begin tearing it into your preferred chip size. Make sure that you make each piece as similar in size as the others so that they all cook evenly. Smaller ones will burn while larger ones come out half-cooked and gummy.





3. Take your Extra Virgin Olive Oil spray (or Misto - my love) and covered all the pieces really well with oil.





4. Lightly salt the kale with whatever salt you prefer. Remember you can always add salt but you ruin a batch of kale chips with too much salt. (Been there. Trust.)





5. Pop the baking sheet into the oven for 5 minutes. The kale chips should darken in color and feel light and crisp.
   
   
   

Eat the chips soon after they come out of the oven. I think they taste best when they have that slight warmth to them. Enjoy!